This is the cutest image you'll see all day.
Moves to save the species from extinction could herald the reintroduction of wolves and sea eagles
| WILD TIMES | IN BRIEF
The mice, Britain's smallest breed with a body only 1.5in long, were pictured in Wimborne, Dorset, by wildlife photographer Dean Mason.
Did you know that dormice are not technically mice? Learn more about these exceedingly tiny (and notoriously sleepy) rodents.
Today we're continuing with Alice week with a Mini Lalaloopsy set, Alice in Lalaloopsyland and the Wacky Hatter. I liked the look of the Lalaloopsy dolls when they first came out. I didn't buy any for a while though. I wanted this set when I saw it because it was not only so cute, but it was Alice, one of my favourite things. I was lucky enough to nab this one for my birthday last year, just before they disappeared from the stores altogether. I think they did a pretty good job with this set. Alice is in the traditional blue and white, with blonde hair, but she has the striped stockings from Through the Looking Glass. They carry the theme of cards or diamonds,spades,clubs, and hearts on several of the pieces. Remember, Alice met the Red Queen, went to the trial of the Knave of Hearts, and the fellows painting the white roses red so they don't get in trouble with the Red Queen, are, in fact, cards themselves.At the trial of the Knave of Hearts Alice ends the trial (and pretty much the book),by declaring the courtroom's occupants "nothing but a pack of cards!", at which point they all turn into cards and fly at her. ‘Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’ I also thought the pets were well chosen: a white rabbit and a cat. The cat may be the Cheshire Cat, or maybe the character Alice's cat Dinah. (The real Dinah was the pet cat of Alice's sister Ina.) Another good choice for The Wacky Hatter might have been a dormouse that would have fit in an oversized teapot, since The Dormouse was at the mad tea party and, as Alice leaves, the Mad Hatter and The March Hare are shoving the poor Dormouse in the tea pot. Some trivia for you: The idea of a 'mad' hatter, and the phrase 'mad as a hatter' come from the fact that in the era the book was written, haberdashers,(At the time a term for hat makers.) used mercury nitrate in the production of felt for making hats. Exposure to the fumes over a prolonged period of time caused many workers to develop a tremor known as hatters' shakes,and/or a dementia characterized by 'pathological shyness' and irritability. The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland doesn't seem to have a problem with shyness, but he takes the prize for irritability! The beautiful Mad Hatter by R. John Wright, which I do not own, is a somewhat more congenial looking fellow than the character in the book. The Hatter wasn't the only disturbed guest at the tea party. "Mad as a March Hare" is another common phrase used to denote someone who acts erratically. The phrase is derived from the spring mating behaviour of European hares, which is described by Wikipedia thusly: "This odd behaviour includes boxing at other hares, jumping vertically for seemingly no reason and generally displaying abnormal behaviour." I have seen our old bunny Gabriel and our current bunny Jerome do the vertical jump for no apparent reason. It's the cutest thing ever. A real dormouse actually looks more like a hamster, with a long furry tail,than a mouse. It's found mostly in Europe, but also in Africa, and Asia, and it really does sleep alot: up to 3/4 of it's life. In fact, the word dormouse comes from the Anglo-Norman dormeus, which means 'sleepy one'. The name was eventually changed in common usage to 'dormouse'. A dormouse sleeping in a rose. Photo by Richard Austin. The dormouse was considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, as a savory or a sweet, dipped in honey and poppy seeds. Blah! They are still a popular food in Slovenia, and the bowl full of cooked whole dormice I saw while researching online looked disgusting! And while we're at it, (What are we at?), why does Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter look like Elijah Wood? Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter 'totally looks like' Elijah Wood. Sort of back to the subject at hand, I also don't own R. John Wright's magnificent Red Queen... But I have seen her in person at a couple of doll shows. She's huge, and very impressive. ...or his gorgeous Alice... ...or his other gorgeous Alice with the baby that turned into a pig... Someday when I'm a millionaire I will own them all... Tomorrow we'll see another Alice...but not an R. John Wright one.
Project background There are currently several methods used to survey for hazel dormice including nest tubes, nest boxes, nut searching and nest searching. However, these scarce, arboreal small mammals can be difficult to detect and it is uncertain which method or combination of methods works best in different habitat types. This project compares the existing […]
Hedgerows were historically planted as barriers between fields, but in a human-dominated world, they are critical havens, corridors and connectors for wildlife.
The mice, Britain's smallest breed with a body only 1.5in long, were pictured in Wimborne, Dorset, by wildlife photographer Dean Mason.
By. SupuniAndrea Zampatti is a wildlife photographer with a good eye for photography. His capture, ‘The Laughi
African dormice are small, agile rodents that are sometimes kept as pets. Learn how to choose and care for a pet African dormouse.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a creature that spends three quarters of its life asleep, when I finally encounter a dormouse in the wild it is in a state of blissful repose.
Discover the difference between hibernation, aestivation, torpor and denning, and learn which animals do them, when, why and how.
Can you protect dormice in danger by sponsoring a dormouse house? You’ll help us return dormice to woodlands where they can flourish again.
Nestled in the heart of a rose, his slumber cushioned by soft petals and his bushy tail, Dreamy the dormouse looks snoozily content.
Pen and ink over pencil studies of a dormouse, one full-length and four concentrating on the head, drawn by Beatrix Potter, 11 December 1887; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.314
This is the cutest image you'll see all day.
By. SupuniAndrea Zampatti is a wildlife photographer with a good eye for photography. His capture, ‘The Laughi
